2017 was the smartest year in B2B marketing. Here’s why.

2017 was a memorable year – the iPhone X came on the scene, Twitter gave Donald Trump more characters, and Tesla unveiled a bold, new initiative. For marketers, 2017 was memorable for a whole other reason. It was smart AF. Here’s why.

Salesforce and Google team up

This is the holy grail that B2B marketers have been waiting for – Google and Salesforce are joining forces. This November, the tech giants announced a new strategic partnership that will allow marketing and sales teams to integrate Salesforce’s platform with Google’s G Suite and tools like Google Analytics.

For B2B marketers obsessed with data, this is a big deal. The integration will allow sales and marketing teams to be better integrated and more productive. Plus, it will open a floodgate of data. We don’t know the details yet, but we’d predict this partnership will close the attribution gap, give killer customer acquisition insights, and better connect the sales pipeline with the customer journey.

It’s a move that’s aimed at driving value for their mutual customers. And it’s giving marketers and sales team the opportunity to work smarter.

LinkedIn gets serious about advertising

2017 was a big year for LinkedIn. Following Microsoft’s acquisition in late 2016, the B2B social giant has been quietly asserting itself as the social channel to watch. And we’re taking note.

This year, LinkedIn gave a serious nod to B2B marketers by unrolling a slate of new targeting options, including retargeting and custom audiences. The move was a signal to B2B marketers that LinkedIn is getting serious about its ad platform. And they’re showing marketers that LinkedIn is a viable B2B digital marketing channel. LinkedIn has always been one of our favourite social networks for reaching B2B audiences online, but these new tools put it ahead of the pack. We can’t wait to see what they roll out next.

B2B marketing goes agile

Agile Software Development has been kicking around the engineering space for years. But in 2017, agile dominated the marketing world. Don’t believe us? Check out the values & benefits of agile marketing, and this Forbes article. So what is agile marketing? Agile is all about productivity, flexibility, and working smarter.

This year, we embraced agile by adopting Kanban, collaboration, and letting go of traditional barriers that exist in cross-functional teams. And we’ve pushed our clients to do the same. It’s not just us, we’re learning from other marketers who are making serious strides by creating fast-paced models to test, iterate, and optimize.

Psst…Interested in going agile? Check out this must-read.

Sayonara, 2017

It’s been a slice. Sure, you helped make us better marketers, but you also brought two new Stryvers, kick-ass clients, and new adventures into the mix. We can’t wait to see what 2018 has in store.

Happy Holidays!